Tag: LWR

We are about seven weeks away from the launch of Emo FASCISM Launch Week!

As far as the music is concerned, Pat and I are working on the final mixes of the 12 songs that will make up the CD. A 4-track sampler is now available at Soundcloud with opening track “Silver” the final teaser in the set. Check it out below.

Eric has done his part – the cover design – and the art concept will be carried through on the CD sleeve, merch and posters (with the assistance of the lovely 23賴). See below.

Four dates have been confirmed during the Emo FASCISM Launch Week. Details to come soon.

Emo FASCISM will also be available on Bandcamp and iTunes in August for those unable to attend any of the gigs.

Very excited about this new milestone in my musical career and none of this would have been possible without the amazing Patrick Chng, who has been an inspiration and endless source of encouragement to me to record a new album after all these years!

Those of you kind folk who follow me on Twitter or Facebook would be aware that I made an announcement recently about releasing a solo album next year. Yes it’s finally going to happen and it will be called Emo Fascism. The music scholars amongst you will know that this is inspired (or stolen) by the original title of Elvis Costello’s classic LP – Armed Forces, which was Emotional Fascism.

The song – Gum – was actually originally tacked on to the end of This Savage Garden demo in 1992, with only one verse. When the Democracy album was recorded a year later, I decided to add the second verse and the Hey Jude-like coda. Remember, this was 1993 and so I was not too comfortable about the song receiving too much attention and so I made it a hidden track (very much in vogue then). So imagine my surprise when 98.7FM DJ Suresh Menon played the track on national radio! Not only that but Chris Ho highlighted the song in his Pop Life column in the Straits Times! So much for keeping a low profile.

Well, thankfully, there were no knocks on the door in the middle of the night and the song (and I) have survived till today.

Folks who appreciate the song often mistake it for a comic song about chewing gum. Well, okay, that’s partially true but in essence, the ‘chewing gum’ of the song symbolizes anything that has been taken away from us ordinary beings by the powers-that-be. It could be freedom, liberty or any other human right. Still relevant in 2011 as it was in 1992.